


The Fool of a Prince

by rhode (Phoxxi)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action, Bodyguard AU, College AU, Fluff, M/M, Other, Side!Shallura, Slow Burn, klance, prince!lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-05 10:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11575752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoxxi/pseuds/rhode
Summary: All Lance wanted was a small taste of normal. Where he could go to college, make friends, spend four years without any worries about responsibilities...How dumb could he have been to think that the Prince of Altea could ever achieve anything semi-normal.((Or Alternately: Keith is a fed-up bodyguard that always has to save Lance's ass))





	1. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dying hair, class time, and bad time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to write 10k+ words for this ;_; I just couldn't stop writing...

There were many things that Lance hated. He disliked how much homework he got at college. He loathed how there was no store nearby to buy his favorite skin creams so he was left to ordering online. But most of all, he utterly despised having to re-dye his hair every three weeks so his white roots would never see the light of day. It was turning out to be quite an expensive ordeal for buying a bulk of brown hair dye, and an even more irritating situation since Lance needs to hide the brown dye from his annoying roommate that he bickers with constantly. Keeping up with the illusion that he is a natural brunette was proving to be a challenge.

Lance threaded his gloved hands through his locks, coating the brown liquid to stain the small, light roots that dared to appear. The intense stare he was giving the bathroom mirror emanated how focused he was, and if that gaze alone hadn't convinced anyone, then the tongue slightly sticking out the corner of his mouth could do the trick. Once he had finally decided that he covered every little spot, Lance slipped off his dirty gloves and gave himself a small smile in the reflection for how successful he was for not staining his hands at all.

“Lance! You've been in there for fifteen minutes! Get out!” A pounding sent vibrations rippling through the door Lance was behind. Lance’s smile fell and he simply glared at the barrier between himself and the frustration labeled Keith. If he kept silent, maybe he would leave. “...Lance, I know you're in there. I can smell the stench of your axe body spray from here.” A scoff rumbled out of Lance’s throat as he sneered in the direction that Keith's voice was coming from.

“It's not axe! I would never use that cheap shit!” He defended. Keith didn't have to say anything for Lance to know that he was rolling his eyes. Grumbling under his breath, Lance gathered the empty packages of hair dye, wet gloves and any evidence of his dying habit and buried them deep in the trash so Keith would have no idea. Quickly grabbing a few tissues, he wiped down the counters and prayed there would be no stains that he would have to explain. For the past three months since begrudgingly rooming with Keith, Lance had kept up the rouse that he was simply adding a volumizer to keep his hair perfect. Keith was completely clueless, which was a fact that Lance was proud of.

Once he was sure all the trash was put away and everything was cleaned, Lance finally gripped the doorknob and swung the bathroom door open to reveal a irritated, sweaty Keith. He will never know why Keith would prefer to go to the gym for two hours and get drenched before the first class and he will never care to know. Lance huffed at the mulleted boy in distaste and brushed past him, “There. The bathroom is free.” Lance heard a quiet click of the door closing as he plopped down on his bed to grab his phone, signaling Keith went to take his shower.

The small device lit up when Lance turned it on, the light nearly blinding him. He flinched back and quickly adjusted the brightness down so his eyes wouldn't start to bleed. Once the threat of losing his vision dissipated, Lance glanced at the list of notifications that littered his home screen. Most of them were useless alerts about social media that he wouldn't bother with, yet one missed call caught his eye, causing him to bolt up in a sitting position. Attention swiftly turned to the bathroom, making sure the water was still running. When it was confirmed, Lance clicked the call back button, bringing his knees to his chest as he prepared to remained hushed. The call was only missed by two minutes, so he was sure that she would pick up.

It took three rings before the elegant voice of a woman picked up the phone, “You know, this is why we need to set up times to talk.” Lance could hear the teasing smile in her voice.

He rolled his eyes at his sister's antics. “Allura, you know how chaotic my schedule is with school…”

“I know…” The sigh that she released following felt heavy, too heavy for Lance’s liking. He instantly became concerned.

“Hey, hey… is everything alright?” When he didn't get an immediate response back, he knew something was wrong. “Allura, are you okay?” His brain seemed to be going in the worst direction with the worst scenarios.

His clever older sister picked up on her brothers uneasiness and tried to diminish his worry. “Yes, yes… I'm fine. I’m okay, so don't worry about me… it's just that…” Lance could hear her over the phone take a shaky breath in. It was muffled a bit, indicating that she hadn't meant for him to hear it. “I-I just miss you.” She whispered out.

Lance’s shoulders slumped as he struggled to find the appropriate words to comfort Allura, yet before he could attempt anything, Allura continued. “It's just… hard, you know? I'm so used to having you here all the time and… I know it's been three months since you left for school, but I miss you so much. Allance, I really miss you and I worry about you being in America all by yourself.”

Lance flinched at hearing his full name used since that means that Allura is immensely stressed. He paused for moment, contemplating the word choice he should use, before throwing all thoughts to the wind and consoling Allura. “I'm okay! You have no need to worry! I'm doing okay in classes and no one knows who I am… I'm fine.” He quickly lowered his volume once he realized that his signature loud voice was rising above his desired level. He added a small, “I miss you too…” at the end as an afterthought.

A few beats of silence passed between them until Lance heard the defeated sigh from his sister. “There are some days where I regret helping you sneak off… but it never lasts long when I hear you talk about how much you love college.” Lance could picture the fond smile Allura always gave him. It was full of love and pure disbelief of how far she’d go for her younger brother. Lance loved that smile.

A faint laugh passed behind his lips before sobering up, “...How’s Father?” Lance focused on the muffled running water since Allura seemed to be taking her time with her answer.

“He’s… He’s still a bit torn with how sudden you left, but he feels a lot better knowing that you're safe.”

“No, not about that… you know what I mean.”

“...” Silence. Lance didn't like the sound of it, especially since it implied quite a lot of bad things.

“Allura,” He started, but jolted when he heard the water shut off in the shower. He cussed under his breath for Keith taking a two second shower. The only times he had time to talk with his sister was when no one was around and it seemed like Keith was around him 24/7. It constantly grated his nerves. Sometimes he was convinced that Keith was following him. “Allura, we’ll continue this talk later, okay? I want to know if Father is doing okay with all this… chaos that's happening.”

“Okay, okay… I'll tell you later.” She caved. “Stay safe. I love you, Allance.”

Lance’s shoulders slumped at his sister's affectionate nature and he rolled his eyes in mock annoyance at the endearing gesture. “Yeah, yeah. Love you too, Allura. Bye.” The quick goodbye from Allura was cut off as Lance hit end call when the bathroom door clicked open. Lance grabbed a massive textbook from the desk next to his bed and pretended to be reading the boring text of what seemed to be of United States history.

When Keith stepped out of the steamy bathroom, he was greeted with the sad sight of his roommate reading a US history book, or at least his attempt at reading one since the book was held upside down. He stared at him for a solid minute, waiting for Lance to notice his mistake. However, even though Lance knew he was reading the book wrong, he didn't want to turn the book rightside up for the fact that he would look dumb.

“...You could have pretended to be on your phone, you know. Like, it's right next to you.” Keith pointed to Lance's black phone that laid on his lap. Lance tensed for a moment as he searched for an excuse for his foolish mistake.

“I was… uh, teaching myself how to read upside down.”

“Sure.”

Well, Lance failed his objective of not looking stupid. He plopped the thick book onto his lap in defeat as Keith ruffled his wet hair with his towel. Lance hated another thing, Keith's _mullet._ He could never understand how someone would electively get such an ugly hairstyle on purpose. It was a disaster no matter what angle you saw him at. Even though he is a foreigner to this country, he knows enough about the fashion trends to understand that mullets died in the 80s.

Lance brushed away the thoughts of the mistakes of another and stood up, deciding the dye was in long enough to set and it was time to wash it all out. He brushed past Keith, brushing his shoulder against his and ignored the pointed look Keith threw at him.

Once inside the bathroom, he got straight to work. Running the water of the tub, he made sure it was warm before he stuck his head under. He didn't bother having a full shower since he only needed to rinse the dye out. Lance's hands massaged his scalp as the clear water washing over his head turned a dark brown. He felt so content that even after the water became clear again, he held his head under the rushing water in pure bliss.

When he deemed that he was relaxed enough, he shut off the water and immediately started to dry his hair with his towel. It wasn't as fluffy as the ones he was used to at home, but he had gotten used to faint roughness in the past months he's been here. The towel drenched quickly as he rung out the water in his locks, but that meant that it was doing it’s job in making them dry. He hung the dirty towel up on the rack placed beside the door so it could dry and glanced at himself in the mirror.

The white roots that peeked before were no longer visible, which Lance was relieved about. Now he didn't have to go through the annoying process for another few weeks, which is future Lance's problem. Lance threw himself a quick wink followed by finger guns, before ushering out the bathroom to get ready for his first class of the day, Statistics 102.

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

The walk to class wasn't a long one, but it was definitely a beautiful stroll. The sidewalks that spread around the campus were framed by large trees that caused archways created by the colorful branches. It was mid-fall so the leaves were multiple shades of warm colors, such as reds, oranges and yellows. They littered the floor as if it was a canvas and all the colors were chosen to accent the others perfectly. Lance adored the atmosphere that the massive campus gave off. He never had the open spaces full of trees and the fresh air that opened up his lungs when he took a deep breath. He had grew up in a dense city, the capital of his country. The closest he got to this scene before was the family garden that was always meticulously kept tidy, there was not a hint messy charm that the outside world held.

Lance was here for three months, but it feels like everytime he goes outside, he's experiencing it for the first time once more. It felt like freedom and he loved every second of it. Lance took it every detail, which trees the squirrels climbed up, what tree held the least leaves, and how bundled those that passed by seemed to be and how you could tell that they came from a warmer part of the country. Lance glanced to the side as he eyed Keith who had a long sleeve shirt, a red sweatshirt and another jacket on top. Though, he couldn't complain to him about how it wasn't cold as he had on a thick green jacket himself.

Both of them were walking side by side during the five minute walk, enjoying the faint tweets of the birds and the warm sunlight when it peeked through the thick foliage from the branches. Lance didn't enjoy Keith's company by any means, but since both of them shared the same classes, it was less trouble to walk with him. Though, just because they had the same classes together, it didn't mean that Lance ever sat next to him in class. Oh no, Keith has to be an edgy, cool boy and sit in the back where he could brood.

Silence dawned between them, yet not the unwanted kind. Both rarely held small talk, even though Lance tried on multiple occasions. When Keith would respond in short responses or even just ignored him, it irritated him to the point where he didn't even attempt conversation anymore, and both of them found those to be the most favorable exchanges.

The tall building that held their math class came into view as they approached. They had came a bit early as Keith always insisted on leaving 15 minutes before it starts, just in case something were to happen or if they were running behind schedule. Lance, at first, loathed his suggestion, but after one time of sprinting to one of his more further away classes, he took the advice sparingly as he didn't want a repeat of that incident.

They would usually wait in the quickly filling lecture hall, waiting for the class to start. This time was no different. As soon as they walked into the room, Keith left Lance’s side and headed his way over to his seat in the back, earning a roll of the eyes from Lance himself. Shaking his head, Lance strolled to his usual spot and plopped down next to his long time friend, Hunk.

“Sup, dude.” Lance greeted as he rummaged through his bag to find his papers and textbook to toss onto his tiny corner desk that was much too small for anyone to properly use. Hunk seemed to hum in acknowledgment, too engrossed in his phone to bother to glance up. Lance raised an eyebrow at his bestie and sneaked a quick peek at what Hunk was so busy with. Seeing the particular app he was using caused Lance to reel back with an exaggerated gasp.

“Hunk Garett! You never told me you joined a dating site!” Of course since this was said by Lance, his voice practically boomed around the quiet room they resided in. A few others who were preparing for class looked back at the two, curious as to why Lance would shout so suddenly, while others ignored their existence, to caught up in their own conversations. The sudden outburst from beside him caused Hunk to jolt in surprise and whip his head to Lance in a flustered panic once it registered what he had shouted.

“Lance, be quiet!” Hunk attempted to shush, yet Lance was already bouncing in his seat with excitement, large smile plastered on his face.

“Who was she! Her picture seemed cute! How long have you been talking! I want the details!” Lance urged, trying to pry the phone out of Hunk’s hands to answer the questions that Hunk seemed to be taking way too long to answer. While they struggled for a moment, Lance managed to misclick onto her profile and got a flash of a name. “Oh! Her name is Shay! How cute!”

“Lance, stop!” Hunk placed a hand on Lance's face and pushed him away, while holding the phone away in the other hand. “Geez, chill out. I'll tell you, just stop yelling.” Lance seemed to relax a bit, yet his eyes still gleamed with eagerness. Hunk sighed and waited a moment to calm his beating heart. “Her name is Shay and I met her first at a coffee shop a week ago when I accidently spilled my drink on her and stuff. We didn't start ‘talking’ until I saw her on the dating app and started a conversation with her… I wanted to wait a bit to see if we hit it off before telling you.” His reddened face didn't fade as Lance squealed in excitement.

“Buddy, I'm so happy for you! Does she go to our school?” Lance questioned. Hunk hesitated for a moment, biting his lower lip. “...So she doesn't?”

“Well… you see, she goes to Balmera University.” An exaggerated gasp escapes Lance's throat, mimicking the way he does it when a ‘surprise’ twist appears in the soap operas he watches. Hunk rolled his eyes in response. “Shush, it isn't that bad.”

“You're having a forbidden love! Oh my gosh!”

“It's not ‘forbidden’... “

“It's our rival school, so yes it's forbidden!” Lance giddily announced. “Oh my gosh, this is just like a romantic comedy I once read! Holy shit, Hunk! Now you both have to go on a camping trip that ends with it raining and you have to take shelter in an abandoned cabin in the woods and huddle for warmth! You'll fall in love faster, trust me! Oh oh, wait! What about sharing a single bed in a hotel ro-!”

“Okay okay, stop. I'm not taking advice from someone whose only experience with romance is from soap operas and books, thank you very much.” Hunk urged. “Besides, I think I just want to talk with her and find out more about her. We might not even work out…”

“Hey! One, you're an incredible person! It would be _her_ loss if she didn't go for you! And two, I've had experience!” Lance defended.

Hunk shot him a look that showed that he didn't believe a word. “Lance, we've been pen pals since we were fourteen and you tell me everything. Unless you've had a ‘fling’ before then, the closest thing to a girlfriend you've ever had was that one time you played a dating sim and cried when you managed to _woo_ your favorite girl.” A smack echoed around the room from Lance hitting Hunk’s arm.

A chuckle rumbled out of Hunk’s chest as Lance huffed in feigned annoyance. He opened his mouth to tell Lance more details, yet he stopped when he noticed the professor coming down the stairs. He whispered, “I'll tell you more later.” Lance seemed unsatisfied with it, but he couldn't complain as their teacher addressed the class and what they were learning for the day.

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

The fresh air made Lance’s lungs feel like they were going to erupt with joy. He relished the wind on his face as he escaped the stuffy room that caused his head to explode with useless equations. “Ah, freedom.” He breathed out, relieved that he had survived the onslaught of complex equations that involved population means and standard deviations. He was majoring in English, so he always wondered why he have to suffer with classes that had nothing to do with his degree. Oh wait, _‘requirements to graduate’_... right, that dumb stuff.

With a small huff, Lance cleared his head from dwelling on the things he couldn't change and glanced at his two friends who were shuffling along with the crowd, trying to catch up with him. Or well, one friend and one acquaintance. He waited until they were in front of him before he spoke, “Hey, let's go to the nearby cafe.”

Hunk opened his mouth to agree, before shutting it and glaring at Lance, “She's not gonna be there, you know?”

He responded with an eye roll, “I know that! I just want to see the place where the _magic happened._ ” Lance threw jazz hands, adding emphasis on ‘magic’. His face sobered up when he added, “Plus, I'm actually dying. I want coffee.” He didn't wait for them to respond and sauntered his way to the nearest cafe, all while attempting to throw winks at any passing girls, who were ignoring his existence completely. Hunk and Keith followed their flirtatious friend’s path; Hunk because he needed to finish his story, and Keith because… he didn't have anything else to do, so why not?

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

The cafe that they headed to was a hidden-away, small hole-in-the-wall that everyone would overlook if it weren't for the fact that they offered college students a five-percent discount on their orders. It's their way of saying ‘Thank you for being so sleep deprived that you’re dependent on us for survival. Now please empty your wallets!’. Even though the building was cramped and always packed full of the usual drained, lifeless group of students, it had this aroma that gave off the vibe of productivity.

Or at least, productivity in the way that had kids slamming down six espressos at once so they can binge study for a test they forgot about. Lance did that once. It's not like they say happens on the internet. Instead of being so loopy that you can smell colors and end up building a replica of the Eiffel Tower out of popsicle sticks, all you get is a wicked bad crash that leaves you hungover and in bed for the next day and a half.

Tucked away into one of the corners, a young teenage girl that had her head buried into a laptop, typing furiously. Lance casually strolled over, leaning his body on the table as he stared down at the girl who was irritatingly growling at the device she was working on. “Still stuck in your cave I see.” The girl made no move to acknowledge Lance at all, except to push up her circled glasses up her nose more, the sneer still present on her face. Lance assumed she didn't hear him, so he tried again, “Still-.”

“I heard you, Lance.” She grumbled.

“Well, why didn't you respond?”

“Because if I ignored you, you would eventually go away.”

Lance deadpanned at the chuckles that erupted behind him. He plopped onto the seat across from the girl and scooted over a bit to let Hunk sit next to him. He studied the sass master more closely as they all got situated. The girl with the messy brown hair and an attitude the size of the moon was none other than Pidge Gunderson. A young, bright prodigy that graduated high school at age sixteen while taking all A.P. classes. She acquired more college credits than any other freshman, so she had the fortunate advantage to skip all the wasteful pre-recs that everyone else was forced to do. Why a smart girl such as her would choose an average, run-of-the-mill college instead of a prestige ivy league school was beyond him.

Pidge paused in her typing to chug down the last of her coffee, releasing a refreshed sigh once she finished. “So, what are you all doing here?” She moved a bit of her work to the side and made some room for Keith to sit beside her.

“Oh! Well, Hunk got a new girlfriend-!”

“-Not my girlfriend-!” Hunk added.

“-And this is where they met, so we decided to come to get a feel for what happened.” Lance grabbed one of Pidge’s textbooks, holding it up to hide his face, only leaving his eyes visible. He scoped the room, scanning for any sign of the cute girl that matched the picture from the app. He felt like a detective, being all snoopy and what. Yet, to everyone else, he just looked like a fool.

Keith rolled his eyes, grumbling out a faint, “Tch.” He reached out and tugged the book out of Lance's hands, placing it back onto the pile of work. Lance flashed a look of annoyance at Keith before crossing his arms with a grumble.

“Guys, literally nothing happened other than I was walking over there,” Hunk pointed towards the door, “And I spilled the coffee on her. End of story… Just drop it, okay?”

A sigh could be heard coming out of an irritated Lance, “...Fine! You guys are no fun anyways!”

“Speak for yourself.” Pidge defended. “I have fun in the Cryptids Club! In fact,” she faced Keith, “We still have a spot open that you can join! I know you like the stuff too!” When Keith returned a face of disinterest, she shouted, “Dude, we talk about conspiracy theories and aliens! What's not fun about that?”

“I'm just too busy for it.” Keith replied, crossing his arms.

“Busy doing what? Punching body bags at the gym?” Retorted Lance. “Dude, I live with you and the only things you do are work out and study. That's it.” He narrowed his eyes at the mullet-haired boy. What he said was true, Keith only focused on school or getting into shape, and he found it strange how he wouldn't join any of the sports or athletics clubs. He just never pushed because that was Keith’s business and not his own.

Lance dwelled on the issue this time though, and he really thought hard about it. What would Keith be so busy for that he wouldn't join any clubs? He pondered on this for a few seconds, looking up to the ceiling as he did, before a flash of recognition bloomed on his face as he slammed his palms onto the table. “Holy shit! You got a girlfriend!”

If Keith had been drinking something at that moment, he no doubt would have done a spit tank. “What! No I don't!” He sputtered in disbelief. His eyes were wide in shock as he just stared at Lance who was now standing in his seat, ignoring the vexed customers around him and the indifferent staff.

“Yes, you do! That would be why you're too busy to join clubs! Oh my god! Why didn't I connect the dots sooner? What if you didn't go to the gym every morning and instead went to her place sometimes? That would explain why you were always sweaty-!” Lance rambled, until he was cut off by Pidge grasping his jacket collar and roughly hoisting him down into his seat.

“Jesus Christ, Lance! We’re in public!” She hissed, yet that seemed to fly over his dense head.

“-So, Hunk’s got a girlfriend and now Keith! Fuck, I have to find someone to date quick!” He whipped his head wildly around as he scanned for a potential love interest, yet finding the coffee shop to be dwindling of customers as they exited after Lance’s loud outburst.

Hunk sighed deeply and held his head in his hands, feeling worn out by his best friend boisterous attitude. “Lance, please calm down. I don't want to get banned from here… Shay and I have a date here next Saturday.” Even though Hunk had mumbled the last part, Lance’s eyes shined bright with excitement, mimicking a small child’s.

“You'll tell me all the details after it happens, right?” Lance’s smile was so bright, it was infectious. Hunk’s own mouth seemed to copy his best friend's as he nodded. Lance was a hopeless romantic at heart, so of course Hunk wouldn't hide any details about his love life.

“Yeah, I'll tell you everything.”

“Sweet!”

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

When classes were finished with the day, Lance headed back to the dorm to finish some homework. Keith, who had the same schedule as him, said that he was going to workout for an hour and then be back, but Lance knew what he was _really_ doing.

_“If you want to visit your girlfriend, you can just say it, no need to hide it anymore!”_

_“I'm telling you the truth, I don't have a girlfriend!”_

_“Fine, boyfriend!”_

_“Ugh!”_

Keith can try to be as sly as he wants, but Lance knew the truth now.

Lance wandered through the dormitory, attempting to waste time before heading back to his room. He walked by some vending machines and pretended to admire the craftsmanship of them as well as gaze at the snacks that were begging him to spend money on. He knew he shouldn't be stalling, but there was a sense of dread in him that was going to bubble over since once he entered his room, he would have to call his sister and ask her what she was not mentioning this morning.

He had managed to dilly-daddle for nearly a half hour before he worked up the nerve to enter his cramped living quarters and unlock his phone to open his contact list. He scrolled down until he read the name ‘Sis’, and hovered his finger for the briefest moment of hesitation, before steeling himself and pressing the call button. Part of him hoped that she didn't answer.

“Good morning, Allance.” His sister’s voice gently breathed into the phone after three rings. The sleepy undertone in her voice signaled that Lance had woken her up.

“Shoot, were you sleeping? Sorry.”

“No, no. It's okay… I'm up now so it's fine.” Allura reassured. “It reminds me of all the times you'd sneak into my room during the night because you hated being alone.” A chuckle erupted from her chest, followed by a faint smile etching onto her face. “It got to the point that I would be awake before you even came by, since it was always around the same time.”

“Yeah… I remember that too.” Lance reminisced of his childhood, fondly thinking back to his younger self. He took the moment of silence both of the provided to prepare himself for what was to come next. He dreaded what it would be, but there was no way around the situation. “Allura… what's wrong with Father?” He wanted to curse at how his voice shook with unease.

“...It seems all the chaos with The Galra is finally catching up to him.”

From that sentence alone, Lance felt like his breath had been knocked out of him. He couldn't breathe. “W-what do you mean? Is he okay?” He didn't care that his voice sounded urgent now, it didn't matter. His brain wouldn’t stop rushing to the worst case scenario.

“He’s just a little… ill. He’s… uh, bedridden.” Allura cringed at her wording, “But, the best doctors are looking after him! There's nothing to worry about!” The quickness of her voice had Lance unconvinced. He had started to pace around in the small area that was free.

“What do you mean I have _nothing_ to worry about? The King of Altea is bedridden, Allura.” He practically hissed into the phone, attempting to keep his voice low so no one could hear through the walls. They weren't paper thin, but you would definitely hear Lance’s booming voice if he decided to shout. He has gotten many noise complaints from his neighbors, so he would know.

“Allance, calm down.”

“No, I won't. What happened? How long? How bad is it?” At this point, he was motioning with his hands and tapping his foot. He felt like he couldn't sit still, and that if he even tried to, it would just build up more panic in him.

“He… He had fainted two days ago from stress when he was in a meeting discussing The Galra’s movement. He had a fever, but it went down and now he's on bed rest to recover.”

“Jesus,” Lance felt his shoulders relax from the tense position they were and he let go of the breath he didn't even realize he was holding, “Why didn't you call me when it had happened?”

“I didn't want to worry you in case it wasn't anything serious.” A tinge of regret was present in her voice, making Lance not snap back at her about the ‘what if it was serious?’ question he was dying to spit out. He settled for releasing an irritated huff.

“So, what happened during the two days he was out?” He questioned. Lance moved to his bed and plopped down, grabbing the pillow to hug it. He didn't even notice that his palms were practically drenched in sweat from how nervous he was. A simple swipe on the pillowcase solved that problem though.

“I was temporarily put in charge of all his meetings. Coran had managed to persuade everyone that I was practicing for when I become queen and all, so no one bat an eye.” A heavy sigh that seemed to convey just how _truly_ exhausted Allura was followed after that sentence. “I was fine with it, it was just draining is all.” The humorless, dull chuckle that radiated from her had made Lance’s heart clench tight and his eyes start to water.

“I-I'm sorry I wasn't there for you and Father.” He barely choked out, “If I hadn't left so suddenly, t-then maybe he would have-.”

“Allance.” Allura didn't even give him a chance to start doubting himself. “It wasn't because of you, trust me. It was because of those… damn Galra.” She sneered in disgust. “Those terrorists are the cause of everything. So, don't you start thinking his condition had anything to do with you. You hear me, Allance? You're the Prince of Altea and my brother! A pure-blooded Voltan! The moment you start second guessing yourself is when the Galra has won.”

“Okay, okay! You can stop giving me your ‘public speeches’ voice! I get it!” Lance wiped the unshed tears from his eyes, a smile present on his face at the way his sister had attempted to cheer him up. That's how they always worked, when one was down, the other had their back and brought them back up. “... I miss you, Allura.”

“I miss you too, Allance.”

“... I want you to tell Father that I love him and I wish for him to get better! And for you to call me if you need support! I don't care if it's 3 AM here, I'll still answer it always!” Lance rambled on, trying to show to his sister that just because he's studying abroad, it doesn't mean that he isn't any less concerned about his family. He wanted freedom from home, but he won't ever abandon them.

“Yeah, yeah. Gosh, you're sounding like Coran now!” Her faint giggle made Lance every tense muscle in his body relax. It meant that everything was going to be alright. Things were looking a bit bumpy, but that was okay, because it will be smooth sailing soon.

“That means he's rubbing off on me… maybe I should grow a mustache just like him.” He joked, resulting in an unladylike snort from the other end of the line.

“Oh my gosh. You couldn't pull it off.”

“Wow, thanks for being so supportive of my dreams, Sis.” He didn't need to be in front of her to know that she was rolling her eyes at him. “Well, I have to go now. I have to do,” he cringed, “homework.”

“Okay, then I won't hold you for long. I love you, you doofus. Stay safe.”

“Love you too, sis. Bye.” Lance never knew how all his worries seemed to slip away when he finished talking with Allura. She knew all the right words to put him at ease and he was forever grateful for it. He had no clue where he’d be without her older sister guidance. Or well, he did; He would be preparing to become the next King. Something he was glad to let Allura handle.

Lance shook his head to rid those thoughts out of his head and dejectedly glanced at his pile of work on his designated desk in the corner. He sneered as he pulled the paperwork onto his bed and spread out the sheets to see what he was working on. He cringed at the dates and names that he didn't recognized as he had no knowledge of this country's history. He knew he was gonna struggle with this class.

“Allance, you got this! You're a Voltan, just like Allura said! You push through and try your hardest! If you do that, then you're sure to pass! Yeah!”

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

“Oh god, I failed that quiz.” Lance’s face drained of color as he trudged out of his history class’ lecture hall. His lovely teacher decided to throw out a random pop quiz to measure ‘how you all were understanding the material’. Lance walked into that class with the confidence of a lion and walked out like a disheartened kitten.

“I'm sure you didn't do that bad.” Keith walked beside him with his hands in his pockets, face looking disinterested as always. If Lance wasn't so upset about his bad grade, he would have snapped back about how not everyone could be as good at everything at him. He never understood how Keith could excel at so much, it irritates him so much sometimes that he just has to start fights with him to blow off some steam. He's the prince here, he should be the one who should succeed in everything he tries, yet that never goes as well as he hopes.

Lance remaining silent in his brooding caused Keith to raise a confused eyebrow. The Humanities Department was one of the further buildings the boys had to go to, at least a fifteen minute walk from their dorm. Keith hesitated for a moment, staring at Lance as he contemplated if he wanted to say anything. In the end, the low rumble in his stomach decided his answer.

“Do you… want to go grab something to eat?”

Lance jolted at the sudden question, surprised to hear such words leave Keith’s mouth. He had always followed Lance and the group around, rarely suggesting to do things. Lance opened his mouth for a moment, before shutting it when his own stomach growled back.

A small smirk appeared from Keith, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Since it was their last class of the day, they decided to take a small stroll through town and find a place that would look decent enough to eat and not empty their pockets. Though, Lance didn't really have to worry about the latter. He had shot a text to Pidge and Hunk if they'd like to join, but Pidge had responsibilities with the Cryptic Club and Hunk had to work on a project for one of his engineering classes, so they denied. It was nearing sunset, but since the boys didn’t have any classes until late noon tomorrow, they were in no rush to get their homework done tonight.

Lance had picked out a little shop called _Sam’s Subs and Steaks_. It wasn't packed, only a few customers inside when they arrived. Their menu was subs and cheesesteaks with many variations that made them ‘unique’. Since he had grown up in a castle, he was pampered enough to have full course meals that you have to use utensils for every time he sat at a table, so it was originally challenging to adjust to finger food. But once he got more acquainted with it, he grew to love being able to dig in with his hands like a child.

They both ordered their food and stayed seated st the table while they waited. Lance sucked on the blue bendy-straw he was given for his banana smoothie that had way too much sugar and watched the TV that was on the other side of the room. It was playing a basic news channel that droned on about how a cat got stuck in a tree and was saved in the next town over, and more around those lines that Lance didn't really care about. When he decided that he had enough of whatever the news was saying, he pulled out his phone, checking social media as a way to waste the time. He didn't notice Keith clear his throat three times before tapping on his hand.

“Hm?” He glanced up at his screen momentarily to see Keith staring at him expectantly. “... What?”

Keith rolled his eyes in irritation, “I said, do you want me to tutor you in history?”

A surprise snort from the question caused Lance to choke on his smoothie, making him take a moment of coughing to regain his composer. “W-what? No! I'm fine without your help!” Like Lance would admit that he was failing at something Keith was good at, yeah right.

Keith shot him a look that told him he didn't believe him, but said no more other than, “Fine.” A silence grew between them, Keith taking interest in their surroundings while Lance browsed his phone absentmindedly.

The waitress that took their orders bounced over, her ponytail swaying slightly, and presented a huge smile that didn't reach her eyes what's-so-ever. “Okay! One turkey sub for you and one cheesesteak for you!” Though her voice held a polite sing-song tune, one could tell she was forcing it as she needed to be kind in order receive good tips.

“Thank you!” Lance grinned, before hungrily munching down on the sub that he'd been looking forward to all day. Keith remained silent as he ate his own meal, albeit at a slower pace than Lance. It only took Lance five minutes to consume all his food and he sat back, licking his fingers with satisfaction. He stared at Keith who was only halfway done with his own food, and rolled his eyes.

It took few minutes for Keith to finish. Lance claimed he helped by stealing a few fries when he thought he could get away with it, yet always receiving a slap on the hand from Keith. After the sixth time it happened though, Keith simply gave up and let Lance have his way with his poor, unexpecting french fries. The boys had gotten the bill and settle down their split amounts as well as a shared tip for their overworked, underpaid waitress.

“Hang on, I'm gonna go to the bathroom before we leave.” Keith grabbed his phone and stuffed it pocket, walking to the back of the restaurant to where the restrooms were located. Lance let him be, deciding to glance at his phone while waiting for Keith to hurry up so they can hit the road.

A small gasp of surprise caught Lance's attention, causing him to look up from his phone to see behind the counter a few of the staff were stopped and gaping at the TV on the other wall of the shop. It seemed to catch the attention of the other customers as well, since they stopped their chatter and glanced at the TV as well. One of the chefs grabbed the remote and turned up the volume, so the newscaster’s voice projected more clearly than the muffle they previously had her at. The headline that appeared at the bottom of the screen was enough to send chills through his heart.

**“TERRORIST ATTACK ON ALTEA CASTLE”**

“-About roughly thirty minutes ago, two large bombs had detonated inside of the Altean Royal Castle. One was located in the north area of the building, while the other was said to have been in the dining hall. Many claim that this is a terrorist attack by the international group called The Galra. Authorities have so far found sixteen dead, thirty-two injured. This is-.” The newscaster droned on more about the small details, yet nothing was mentioned who were the ones that had died. Nothing was said about even what happened to the royal family. _His family._

“Oh my god.” One of the other waitresses breathed out, as the news started showing helicopter footage of the castle consumed in flames in two different locations of the building. If Lance hadn't had dread fill his entire body before, it certainly did once he saw that the area affected by the north flames were where their sleeping quarters resided. Oh god, he felt like he was going to throw up.

Lance bolted from his seat, practically sprinting out the door as he scanned his contacts for Allura. When Keith and him were searching for a place to eat, Lance noticed an alleyway that was off to the side of the building. It was the perfect place for him to make his phone call without anyone interrupting him. He had jogged about halfway down, when he pushed the call button and waited for his sister to pick up. Only… she didn't. She didn't pick up her phone at all.

Lance’s heart rate started to quicken as he tears pricked his eyes. He called another time, and then another. She didn't answer any of them either. At this point, Lance was starting to breath more heavily to the point where he was getting light-headed. He had to lean against the wall so he wouldn't fall over at all. After the fourth time, he realized that she wouldn't pick up her phone. So, he skimmed over the other contacts he had and prayed that one of them would help him find answers. When he spotted a certain name, he instantly slammed his finger down and prayed. If she didn't have her phone, then hopefully he will. He's her bodyguard, so she should be with him.

It took four rings before a gruff voice responded, “Hello?” Who knew that small hello could cause Lance to weep tears of joy.

“Shiro? Shiro, where's Allura? Where's my father? Is everything okay?” Lance was spitting out questions rapid fire, hoping that Shiro would understand at least one in the jumbled mess of mumbles.

“Hey, hey! Allura’s fine, she's right here with me-!” Shiro started, before he was ripped away from the line and replaced with a woman’s voice.

“Shiro, let me have it!” Her voice was faint at first as Lance could tell she struggled grabbing it from Shiro’s hand. Once she managed to obtain it, her voice was concerned and a bit shaken up. “Allance? Allance, is that you?”

“Yeah, Allura, I’m here. How are you? Are you okay? What about dad?” He started to relax a bit now that he knew that his sister wasn't blown to smithereens, yet he still felt tense as he dreaded what could have happened to his dad.

“I'm okay, we were in library when the explosion happened so we were fine! Father is okay, too. The doctors suggested that he should be transferred to a hospital so they moved him about an hour ago so he wasn't affected by the blast at all. I was gonna call you in the morning to tell you about him, but then all the stuff happened.” That would explain why she didn't answer her phone at all. She probably went to the library because she couldn't sleep when the bomb went off. It was dumb luck that she didn't get hurt but it was a blessing all the same.

The breath felt like it was knocked out of him when he heard that they were okay. They're okay, and they're alive. His body collapsed against the brick wall and slid down as it finally processed in his brain that his sister and his father could have very possibly died tonight and he would be left alone. “Dear fuck.” He cussed in disbelief as tears started to stream freely down his face.

“Listen, we’re both fine, so don't worry. I'll call you in a bit later once we get to a safe location, okay? I love you, stay safe.” Allura did her best to sooth Lance, yet her tone showed just how shaken she was.

“Okay, I love you too, stay safe as well…” Lance breathed out effortlessly. He gripped the phone to his ear like a lifeline, like if he lessened his strength even just a bit, then his sister would go away as well. He was fully prepared to hang up, but then he remembered something. “Wait! Allura…” He could hear her pause on the other end. “Put Shiro on the phone.”

She hesitated for a moment, before shuffling could be heard, indicating she gave it back to Shiro. “Yes, Allance?” Shiro’s voice came onto the line.

“Shiro… make sure nothing happens to her. Understand?” Lance’s grip on the phone got tighter as his hands started to shake.

“Of course I will-.”

“No, you have to make sure nothing happens to her.” Lance’s voice was quivering behind clenched teeth. “Please. You can't let anything happen to her. She's all I really have.”

Lance didn't like the hesitant silence that Shiro gave back to him, until he heard the determined tone that followed, “Allance… I promise you I would lay down my life for her. Nothing is going to harm her under my watch… Do you trust me?”

He gulped, before releasing a shaky, “Yes…”

“Then, you know that I mean what I say, right?”

“Yes…”

“Okay… Then you have nothing to fear.” There was muffled talking in the background, too low for him to decipher what they were saying, yet he had enough context clues to know that they had to hurry up with the conversation. “Allance, we have to go. We’ll give you updates later on, okay?”

He couldn't even manage an okay with the sob building up in his throat, so he hummed a noise on confirmation and hoped they got the memo. It seemed that Shiro did because after a rushed goodbye, he hung up.

Lance still sat on the floor after the phone call, lightly shaking and quietly sobbing with fried nerves. He buried his head in his arms when he pulled his knees up and let out a cry. It was more out of relief than any of the other clouded emotions that were swirling around him. His panic had settled, still a bit stirred but not as much as before. It took him a few minutes to properly calm himself down to only light hiccups that erupted from his chest. He sniffed and wiped his eyes when he deemed he was functioning enough to rejoin Keith once more, since his companion was most likely finished using the restroom.

His legs felt unstable, too shaky. He had to take purchase on the wall to properly hoist himself up, his body too heavy. He steadied his feet and prepared to slug his emotionally exhausted body into the shop, yet he paused after a few steps to glance down at his phone. His half-lid eyes stared at his sister's contact name and a breath of fresh air lightened his lungs. Whoever it was in heaven that sent that blessing, he would worship them to the end of the world. Lance slid his phone into his pocket and steeled himself to go back into the cafe, yet he didn't get very far in his strides before he tensed instantly at an unfamiliar object being lodged into his back.

“Don't make a sound.” A gruff, deep voice demanded from behind him.

Oh god. Oh my god. He was getting mugged. Holy shit. _Lance was fucking getting mugged. There's a_ **_gun_ ** _to his back. Oh my god._

Lance decided in that moment, today was officially the worst day of his life.

He raised his hands in surrender, realizing how he probably shouldn't fight back against a guy with a gun. “H-hey, wait! M-my money’s in my back pocket, just take it and-!” The barrel of the gun digged deeper into his back, silencing him from saying more.

“I'm not here for your money.” The voice hissed out, stepping closer from behind Lance.

The statement made Lance hesitate and furrow his eyebrows in confusion. “Wha…?” If he didn't want his money, then what did he want?

A large hand clapped down onto Lance’s shoulder, firmly showing how he won't let go of Lance if he tried to run away. “We’re gonna go on a little walk, Mr. Voltan.” The following rough chuckle seemed to echo through the alleyway as Lance processed what he had said, blood running cold through his veins.

He knows. _He knows._ **_He fucking knows._ **

Lance couldn't even deny to the guy that he wasn't who he was, since he specifically knew his identity. Lance's brain went into overdrive as his legs seemed to move on their own with the attempt of taking off running, but it seemed like the man predicted his action as he yanked Lance back and wrapped his arm around his throat so he was in a choke-hold. The gun was now nestled between his ribs, pressing hard enough that Lance was convinced it would bruise. “Now, relax… I'm not gonna hurt if you listen to me, okay?”

Lance could feel the tears starting to well up again as he grasped at the stranger’s arms, trying to pry them away. Yet, the man was deemed stronger and larger than him and held on tightly. Lance was in no way small, yet this man seemed to be taller than him so Lance couldn't shake him off.

“Now… we’re gonna walk this way.” The man ordered, his hold getting impossibly tighter and made Lance struggle to breathe. The man started to force Lance to turn around, practically dragging him behind and attempted to walk further into the alley, away from the main street the shops resided beside. The panic and dread bubbling in Lance's stomach made him feel like throwing up all over again.

He thought he was being so careful! It took a few weeks for him to get used to being called Lance McClain, but he ended up adjusting! He was so sure to be cautious and went over so many details to make sure he wouldn't be found out! But it seems that he became sloppy at one point and got caught, now he has to reap the consequences.

They had only gotten around ten feet down the alley when quick, rapid footsteps coming from behind caused them to pause. The gun moved from his ribs to point at whoever the unwelcomed visitor was, but Lance heard it clatter to the ground after the stranger had knocked it from the man’s hands. A tight grip appeared on Lance’s forearm and yanked him back, the man releasing the headlock in surprise from having his weapon taken away.

As Lance was thrown behind the stranger, he couldn't get a strong stance and ended up stumbling, falling onto his back on the ground. His head smacked onto the hard concrete floor, disorientating him for a few moments. A faint ring could be heard echoing in ears, everything else was muffled. Through his hazy vision, he saw the two people struggle as they fought. He couldn't make out who was who at first, since everything seemed to sway. Processing what was happening was difficult.

Once the ringing set aside and his vision cleared, he noticed how dim the alleyway was, the only lights provided was the faint yellow light by one of the backdoors to the buildings. Yet, Lance could make out the specific body type of the man that attacked him. When he focused on the other person, he couldn't see specific details, only a flash a red from a jacket when they got close to the light.

They both exchanged fists and kicks, the one with the red jacket being faster as they had a more slender frame. Lance scooted back to get away from the fight, since he didn't want to be pulled in, especially since he had no close combat skills.

The larger man had decided to dive for the gun lying on the ground about five feet away from him. He launched himself towards it and managed to successfully grab a hold onto it, when the slender figure tackled the man. They both fought for possession of the gun, but the red jacket was victorious in scuffle and a shot rung in the air.

Lance jumped at the sudden noise, eyes blowing wide as the man that attacked him fell limp, liquid slowly pooling around him. Lance's breath caught in his throat as just stared at the dead body, before raising his eyes to get a proper look at the other person who pulled the trigger.

When the figure stood up, Lance finally realized who had come to save him. “K-Keith?” Keith whipped his head around to face Lance, and for the first time, Lance feared Keith. His eyebrows were furrowed in anger, his teeth pulled back into a sneer. Blood was splattered onto cheeks and neck from where it sprayed from his victim. He loomed over Lance's attacker, tense and on the offensive. “Oh… oh my god, you killed him.” Lance breathed, “K-Keith, you… _killed_ him.”

Keith remained silent as he marched over to where Lance was sitting, making Lance pale and squeak as he shuffled backwards since Keith looked immensely intimidating. Lance had his eyes locked on the gun that was still in Keith's hands. When his back smacked against the wall behind him, he threw up in arms to cover his face, preparing for the absolute worst. Yet, Keith had only roughly grab Lance's forearm and hoisted him up.

Lance stumbled for a second, before steadying himself, and gulping as he could see more of the detail of blood now that he was close enough. Keith still didn't let go on his arm, dragging Lance behind him. The gun was still in his other hand, though slightly obscured, as his head looked left to right as they exited the alleyway.

As they walked, Lance noticed they were heading back to their dorms, and that's when he snapped back into it. He tried to pry his arm from Keith’s grip, but it was surprisingly too tight and too strong to be released from, so Lance locked his legs and refused to walk anymore, yelling out, “Keith! **_Stop!_** ” It did the trick as Keith stopped walking and glanced back at Lance in question, though he didn't let go of his arm. “Jesus! Are you actually going to pretend you didn't just murder a guy? You didn't even hesitate!”

“Lance, we don't have time. I'll explain later.” Keith attempted, but Lance wasn't satisfied with that answer.

“No! What the everloving _fuck_ is going on?” Lance wasn't moving from his spot, and Keith was getting irritated.

He yanked Lance closer and hissed under his breath, still scanning around for potential threats. “I was sent by your family to keep an eye on you and to make sure you were safe. Now, I think you have enough brains to know that you aren't exactly in the safest place right now, so let's go.” He started to pull Lance along as he processed what he had said.

Sent by… his family? Wait, but then-

“All this time you knew who I was?”

“No, duh.”

He was under the impression that his family had trusted him enough to take care of himself, yet it seems that the only reason they allowed him to leave was because he was assigned a secret babysitter. He's going to push aside the thoughts of how utterly fucked he would be if they didn't send Keith, so he could focus on the feeling of betrayal that they gave him. When he gets to call Allura again, he has a lot of choices words to throw at her.

The both of traveled back to their shared room, favoring back streets as they were less crowded and kept them hidden from prying eyes. When they entered the building, Keith had finally released Lance’s arm and hid the gun more secretly than before since the bright hallways easily shown the weapon. Though, hiding the weapon would do nothing for the fact that Keith had blood splattered all over him. Keith kept ducking his head out from the corners to scope for any attackers, while Lance just followed behind unsure of what to do.

They managed to sneak by without passing any others that live in the building as well, which was a small blessing since they both looked quite disheveled. Keith entered the room first, claiming he was going to check if it was safe. Lance could hear him check the bathroom and the closets for anyone to be hiding there, and once he found no one present, he motioned Lance to come in.

Keith grabbed an extra bag that was stashed in the corner and tossed in onto Lance’s bed, pointing to it, “Pack only what you need. We're leaving in five minutes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly am surprised at how much I wrote, dear lord...
> 
> I post chapter updates on my blog: rhode-trip.tumblr.com and their tagged under 'tfoap'... though it's mostly me complaining on how I don't ever know when to stop _(:3 」∠)_
> 
> Please kudos and comment if you liked it! They help me write! :D


	2. Hello Kitty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epic car chase™, Hello Kitty and a stripping Lance...

“I am  _ not  _ getting on that thing.”

“Lance, you don't have a choice, we have to leave.”

“Fuck no.” Lance held his ground, he was refusing to ride that thing with Keith.

After they had cleaned up and gathered their essentials, which may have taken more than five minutes because Lance didn't want to part with his things, Keith led Lance to the parking lot behind their dorm. 

It took Lance a moment before he realized what vehicle Keith was intending on using to make their escape. Once it was clear what they were going to be riding on, Lance instantly hated the idea.

It was a very shiny, cherry red motorcycle that seemed like the most unsafe thing in the world. The leather seat glistened from the streetlight above, almost seeming like if Lance sat on it, he'd slip right off. This bike was obviously  _ very  _ precious to Keith since it didn't seem to have a single scratch on it and that it was coated in ridiculous amounts of wax to make the vibrant color pop. It was in no way the most inconspicuous getaway vehicle, that's for sure. 

“You really have to choose the most flashy thing in existence? Also, where did you even get this? I didn't even know you had a motorcycle…” Lance rambled, receiving an eye roll from Keith. 

“We live on campus, why would I need to waste gas driving this when we can walk everywhere? It's only for emergencies.” He reasoned back. “Plus… it's not too flashy.” 

“Literally tattooing  _ Prince of Altea  _ on my head would be more secretive than that thing.” 

Keith huffed in response, too fed up with Lance’s tendency to complain. He strolled over the bike and swung his leg over, positioning himself in the front and making sure there was enough room for Lance to sit as well. Once he was situated, the backpack he was carrying slipped off his shoulders and plopped onto the concrete street. “You're gonna have to carry our bags.” 

“I'm sorry… but how?” Lance placed his hand on his hip in exasperation, because how is he supposed to carry two heavy backpacks that filled to the brim with junk, while on the back of a motorcycle. The deadpanned expression that fell onto Keith's face made Lance groan, yet comply. He scooped up the second bag at Keith’s feet and hoisted it onto his free shoulder. It took him a minute to adjust to the new weight and after he moved the straps to a more comfortable position, he swung his own leg over the seat. He didn't like how the seat curved downwards so Lance had to have his body pressed against Keith’s, so he tried his best to keep a gap between them. But to no avail, the seat did prove to be slippery and he just slid down again right up against Keith. This wasn't going to be a fun ride.

A helmet hung from the handlebars of the bike, it was all black with small details grooved into it to show unique and complicated designs. It had a face shield that was tinted so dark that you would barely be unable to see anything once night fell. Lance was sure that it would be safer to just blindfold yourself and pray to god that you'd make it to your destination. Keith grabbed it and held it out for Lance to take. “Here. Wear this.” 

“Wait, what about you?” He questioned, yet took the helmet out of Keith's hand nonetheless. He turned it over, prepared to place it on his head, but glanced at the nice cushioning that was lined inside. Well, at least he knows that it won't be an uncomfortable fit. 

“I'll be fine. It's so no one can see that it's you.” Keith turned the keys into the engine, the machine roaring to life beneath them. Lance jumped at the sudden sound since it had been silent in the parking lot around them. After recovering from being startled, he slid the helmet onto his head, making absolutely sure it was secure. 

“You ready?” Keith turned around to glance at his companion and saw how he hesitated for a moment. 

“Where… Where do I hold on?” Even though Lance’s voice is loud, it was extremely muffled from the helmet and how loud the bike’s engine sputtered. Keith nearly missed what he said at first, but he managed to pick out a few words and then could piece together what he was asking.

“Just hold onto me.” 

“Ugh.” Yep, Lance hated the world. This was the worst day of his life. 

Lance begrudgingly wrapped his arms loosely around Keith’s torso, grumbling under his breath as he disliked everything about this scenario. Keith kicked off the bike stand and revved the engine, sending vibrations rumbling through them. 

Keith drove the motorcycle down the road and attempted to go a little slower for Lance to adjust to the bike, and it only took a few streets before he was fine. As they sped up, the wind got louder until Lance couldn't hear anything else but the harsh air whipping past his head, it was deafening. He didn't even notice that his arms had gripped tighter and tighter around Keith, bunching up his fists on the his jackets as he was terrified of falling off. Since night was falling, the chill that was refreshing in the morning only made Lance shiver, as though he wasn't even wearing a jacket. He pushed into Keith more since he was the only warmth that was available, though if anyone would ask, he would bite back that he just didn't trust Keith not to crash.

They spent around twenty minutes zipping through side streets before reaching the edge of the city where it branched off to the highway. Lance couldn't think they could go any faster, yet surprisingly, the bike raised in speed, darting pass other cars that were going the appropriate speed limit. Lance’s stomach flipped flopped with anxiety on how quick they were going that he squeezed his eyes shut tightly, too afraid to look up for the fact that he'll see the trees and vehicles flying by. 

Keith's hair whipped wildly in the wind, his cheeks turning red from the cold air, yet he just pressed on. His eyes kept glancing at the side mirror to his right, checking the cars behind them, suspicious of every single one of them. A few more minutes passed on the multi-laned road when Keith’s attention spotted a certain pair of headlights from a van that had been keeping up with the pairs speed. He wanted to be certain the vehicle was following them before reacting, since suddenly firing shots at another car on the highway would gain the attention of police, who would not react calmly. 

He gained up speed a bit more and weaved in and out from beside cars, the van matching all their moves with gaining velocity. Yep, just as he predicted, they were following them. Keith tried to assess on whether he should fight them or just shake them off. He had to worry about Lance being hit by bullets if he had to shoot behind him, since he was certain the backpacks wouldn't provide much protection, nor his helmet. He decided that he would try to lose them or he would just have to wait for the van to drive up beside them before firing the gun that was stashed in his coat pocket. 

“Lance!” Keith yelled, nudging his elbow back just a bit to gain his partner’s attention. It took a moment for Lance to recognize his name over the deafening wind, but once he did, he squeezed Keith a little tighter to signal he was listening. “We’re being followed! Make sure you don't let go no matter what!” He shouted. 

Lance tensed as he slowly processed Keith's words. “W-wait… what!” Even though he screamed right next to Keith’s ear, the helmet had provided a barrier that muffled his shout, saving Keith's eardrum from blowing out. The Prince attempted to glance back behind them to pick out which car it was, yet the helmet obscured his view so much that he couldn't look behind himself, only to the sides of him. He grit his teeth in irritation, of course he can't help in this situation without falling off at 85 mile per hour and probably getting hit by a car and dying. He would just have to trust Keith to get them away safely… and pray. Since he could tell that they would need it. 

The van seemed to be getting impatient as it darted between the few last cars that were separated them, slowly rolling up to the right rear of the bike. Keith's eyes kept glancing into the side mirror, keeping track of how far back they were as one hand slid off the handlebar to reach down to his coat where the pistol was. Before they had left, Keith checked to see how many bullets remained, revealing that he only had five shots to finish them off until the gun became useless in this situation. He had knives on him that were meant to help in close combat, but he knew that knives wouldn't help him in this scenario at all. He had five shots to get this right to hit the driver, if he messed up, both him and Lance could die. No pressure or anything, nope.

He elbowed Lance again to alert him of the upcoming scuffle that was about to go down, feeling his hands clasp around his torso more forcefully, steeling himself for anything. The van creeped closer, entering the mirror’s blind spot so Keith had to take his eyes off the road to keep throwing glances to the side. Lance was watching it as best he could with how limited his view was, and although it was difficult, he managed to spot how the tinted back windows of the van slowly rolled down and the barrel of a pistol poked out with a man aiming directly towards them. “Keith!” 

The sound of a bullet being shot through the air caused Lance to jump in surprise, a small shout leaving his lungs as he faintly felt for the briefest moment the small, metal bullet hit one of his backpacks and jetted through the other side clean through. Another bullet just barely grazed Keith’s cheek and snapped off the left side mirror of the bike. Once Lance realized what was truly happening, he couldn't stop the scream that ripped out of his throat in fear. 

Keith raised his arm, aiming at the driver’s direction and pulled the trigger twice. The bullet pierced the glass of the window, causing the driver to jerk the van off the road, before swerving it back in the lane. Keith sneered as the man behind the wheel slowly inched the car closer to them with the obvious attempt to drive them off the road. He looked forward to scan ahead on what his options were, quickly noticing that coming up to his left was a metal rail. He waited for the van to make their move before reacting. The van violently jerked the wheel, pushing towards the railing, yet before it collided with Keith’s motorcycle, Keith quickly slammed on the brakes, the van shooting past them, and swerved to right so the van ramped off the beginning of the rail and jumped in the air. 

Keith made sure the bike was in the far right lane and watched as the van flipped over the metal and tumbled down before smashing into a tree on its roof. They continued to zoom by looking only a little worse for wear, with Keith’s cheek starting to throb, but they were alive and that's all that mattered. The pistol was dug into Keith's coat pocket once more, still having two more bullets for future use. He hoped he wouldn't have to use them. 

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

It was about twenty minutes after that near-death experience when the boys finally slowed down and stopped at a deserted gas station to refill their tank and look at the damage that was done. Lance's death grip on Keith loosened as the bike pulled to a stop next to the pump. Keith’s foot popped the kick stand out so the bike wouldn't fall once he stepped off it. He swung his leg over as Lance was pulling off the helmet, making his hair stand in strange positions. 

Keith grabbed Lance's arm and started checking him over, making one-hundred-percent sure he had no injuries. His eyes glanced at the holes that drilled through the backpacks and he made Lance shake them off to check his back for any potential scrapes. Lance watch him in silence, focusing on the intense scrunch between Keith's eyebrows, before finally saying, “I didn't get hit, I'm okay.” 

Keith paused as he looked up at Lance's face, studying for a moment. “You were screaming when they were shooting, though.” 

Lance's face heated up in an embarrassed blush as he stuttered out an excuse. “I-I wasn't screaming! You probably heard other people from the cars we passed!” Keith didn't look convinced, but Lance was too busy trying to will the redness of his cheeks down to a minimum to add anymore. Once Keith was sure there was no injuries, he gathered the backpacks and assessed the damage. Several of the clothes they had packed had a new addition in the form of a hole, a gift from their  _ generous _ attackers. About four pairs of clothes were damaged, which meant they would have to do the unfortunate chore of having to buy new ones. Or at least, after they reached a safe place. 

Lance's eyes didn't leave Keith's face as he put the remaining clothes back into the pack, studying it intently. His eyes trailed over the scrape on Keith's cheek, it didn't seem deep at all, but enough that the blood had dripped from it, or at least did, since the wind on the bike made it dry quickly. Lance looked up again and he looked to the building that was nearly hidden in the woods, a small drug store. The large letters on the top were supposed to be illuminated, yet only three remained working. 

_ Gas Supreme _ . Yet, with the majority of the letters dimmed, the only thing that read was ‘ _ as S’ _ . How pleasant. 

“Hey, I'm gonna head in there.” It took Keith a minute to register where ‘there’ was but once he did, he scrunched his face in disgust. 

“You don't need anything in there.” 

“Well, I want to look around while you fill up the tank.”

“It might not be safe in there. I can't let you out of my sight.”

“Okay, well…” Lance began, “How about you hand me the gun, so if anything happens, I can defend myself.” The snort that came out of Keith's throat was unintentional, but Lance had heard it perfectly clear. “Hey! I can shoot a gun! I used to skeet shoot all the time! And I trained with rifles too!" He puffed out his chest proudly. "I'm actually a good shot!"   
  
Yet, Keith didn't look convinced. "You do realize that this isn't a rifle or a shotgun, right?" 

“Well duh, I'm not stupid.”

“Are you sure about that?” Keith smirked as Lance scoffed and crossed his arms in anger. “Relax, I'm joking… but, no, I'm not giving you the gun.” 

Lance rolled his eyes and slid off the bike, standing straight up. He realized quickly how stiff his body was since he was hunched over on the motorcycle the whole time. While popping his joints and cracking his back, Lance declared, “Well then, I'm still heading in there. I'll call you if I need anything.” He turned and prepared to stroll towards the shady store, yet Keith stopped him.

“Wait…” Keith stood and walked towards Lance. “Hand me your phone.” Lance raised an eyebrow, yet complied since he wasn't in the mood for more arguing. Keith slid it unlock, after Lance had to tell him the passcode, and entered the settings of the phone. 

“What are you doing?” Lance tried to lean over to watch Keith's actions, yet Keith kept leaning back since Lance was getting a bit too close for comfort. 

“I'm turning off all your location apps and also putting your phone in airplane.” Once he had finished tinkering with the device, he handed it back. “You are not to take it off airplane under any circumstances, unless it's an emergency and you need to call me. If you need to get a hold of your sister, you can use my phone.”

“But, I thought that the phone was untraceable?” Lance's eyebrows furrowed. “Before I left, Allura gave it to one of the security staff to tinker with it so it can't be traced…” He paused for a minute trying to remember the name. “It's something generic… John? Nope. Tim… Mark… Damn, this is gonna kill me.” He glanced at the sky and placed his hand on his chin. “I remember his last name being Holt because I kept thinking of that dog movie called Bolt and-.”

“Lance, it doesn't matter. It's just a precaution. It's better safe than sorry.” Keith wasn't having anymore on the subject it seemed since he turn away, trudging to the pump where he started punching the numbers to fill the tank. “You got five minutes in the store then we have to leave, so hurry up.” 

“Yeah, yeah, calm down, mullet. I'm just gonna browse.” Lance mumbled as he made his way over to the doors. At first, he had meant to push the door forward, putting all his weight on it, yet all he did was smack his face full force onto the window. After taking a moment to recollect himself, he glanced down and read the faded words of  _ PULL _ . He glanced over his shoulder back at Keith to see he was watching the whole time and was now shaking his head in pure disbelief. Well that was a blow to Lance's ego. 

He ignored the blush rising to his face as he grabbed the handle and pulled the door open to be greeted with the scent of stale air and hot-dogs that were on the rotating tray in the back. Entering inside the building, Lance noted how a few of the tiles on the ceiling were missing, revealing the bare roof along with electric cables for the half-flickering lights. As he was walking, he stepped on a loose tile on the floor that scraped against the other intact pieces, giving way under his foot and wobbled. The walls held a few cracks as well as sections that lost paint. At the counter was a young woman chewing gum and reading a magazine. Her legs were perched on the smooth surface as she leaned back in her chair. Her eyes briefly trailed up to see who entered the store, before trailing back down to resume her reading once she noticed that Lance wasn't a robber. 

Lance took it with a grain of salt that she wasn't interested in him. He wasn't in the mood nor the situation to be having a flirtatious fling with some chick when he was currently on the run. He already knew that he'd be turn down before even opening his mouth. She wasn't worth the trouble at all. 

Lance started browsing the shelves as he strolled down the aisles. He didn't have a specific thing in mind, just waiting for something to pop out for him and beg him to buy it. It wasn't until about three aisles down before that something appeared. It was packed in with the section of necessities and toiletries, packs and boxes of first aid and over-the-counter medicine. The thing that stuck out was a small, pink box that held fifteen _Hello Kitty_ band-aids. It was made for kids obviously, yet Lance couldn't help but think how ridiculous Keith would look wearing such a childish thing. His ‘ _bad-boy_ ’ image would crumble if he had this plastered on his face where the cut was. So… of course Lance was going to buy it as a gag-gift. 

After glancing around for another few aisles, Lance decided he saw all that this small store had to offer and sauntered to the counter to purchase his item. The woman seemed a bit annoyed that she would have to stop reading and stand up to ring up Lance's things, but she appeared to get over it quickly once she saw he only had one item. She raised an eyebrow and popped a bubble, but made no moves to question him on his choice. She bagged it, before mumbling out, “It’s going to be $2.14.” 

Lance thankfully carried cash on him and found that he still had his wallet in his pocket. About $90 were inside, so spending two bucks weren't gonna break the bank. He had enough common sense to know that he wouldn't be able to use his credit cards for anything since people could track them based on his charges and that would be quite unpleasant. He handed the lady his money, and peeked outside through a smudgy window to lock eyes with Keith, who seemed to be leaning against his bike waiting. He was watching the exchange between them, and once he realized that Lance was looking at him, he made the motion of tapping his finger against his wrist, as if saying  _ hurry up _ .

Lance rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the woman as she handed him his change, receipt and the plastic bag containing the band-aids. Lance mumbled a faint, “Thank you.” Yet, it seemed to fall to deaf ears since the lady just immediately started getting back into position and flipped open the page she left off on. Lance's stride to the motorcycle was slow, only because he wanted to taunt Keith a bit by taking his sweet time.

Keith picked up on it quick enough. “Allance, we have to leave, come on.” 

Lance scrunched his nose in distaste. “Ew. Don't call me that. Hearing my name come from your mouth sounds weird.” It caused butterflies to briefly flutter in his stomach. He guessed from disgust. “Keep calling me Lance.” 

“Fine, whatever.” Keith sighed as he straightened his posture and stopped leaning on the parked bike. “What did you buy anyways?” 

A mischievous grin plastered onto Lance's face in an instant. He ruffled into the bag, attempting to find a good grip before pulling the object out and showcasing off to his moody partner. “This is for you!” 

“...” It took Keith a moment to process what it even was Lance was holding up, but when it clicked, he tilted his head in confusion. “Why?”

“I-I… uh…” Lance’s arm that was holding the box up unconsciously lowered a bit. He was stunned silent by the fact that Keith hadn't reacted the way he expected to. “I-It's for your cut! We don't want it to get infected!” Lance rambled out. He fumbled with opening the box and pulled out one of the band-aids. He stared intently at his hands the whole time as Keith watched him, making him feel a bit embarrassed and rushed. He ripped open the paper packaging and took off the paper backings. 

The band-aid was a simple design, just Hello Kitty’s face along with hearts scattered around her. Lance thought it was adorable. He looked back up to Keith, “Here, turn your head. I'll put it on.” Keith complied, tilting his head to the left, yet only enough that he could still watch Lance's process. He was about stick it on, yet paused once he realized that there was still dried blood on the cut. “Oh wait.” Lance didn't know why he did it, but he instinctively licked his thumb and brushed Keith's cheek to rid of the dried red spots. 

Keith jumped a bit, startled at what Lance was doing and grabbed his wrist. “Did you just wipe your spit on me?” 

“W-what? No! I was just wiping the dried blood!” Lance defended, ripping his arm from Keith's grasp. 

Keith raised an eyebrow. “So you couldn't have told me to wipe it off myself?”

Lance's face grew red as he huffed, “You couldn't see it! How would you know where to wipe!” 

Keith pointed to the side mirror of the motorcycle as he started using his sleeve to harshly wipe the wet spit off his face, opening the cut once more. Lance groaned, grabbing Keith's chin and forcing him to face him. He quickly swiped with his own sleeve lightly before placing the Hello Kitty on the injury. 

“There, that's my apology for you getting hurt!” Lance crossed his arms with an annoyed pout. 

Keith paused for a minute, eyebrows furrowed. “...That's literally my job though.” Lance was tensed for a moment, the words registering in his mind. Right, this is a job. He's supposed to get hurt for Lance's safety. 

“... I still don't want you to get hurt.” He grumbled under his breath, looking off to the side to watch the small trickle of cars pass by, which wasn't many as it was getting late.

They remained silent for a moment before Keith mumbled a nearly silent, “Thanks… I guess.” He turned and swung his leg over the bike, kicking off the bike stand. Lance took a moment to process that Keith had thanked him for the band-aid and once it did, a faint smile grew across his face. He gathered the backpacks onto his back and seated himself onto the motorcycle. He slid the helmet back on and positioned himself so he could wrap his arms around Keith's waist. 

“You ready?” Keith revved the motorcycle to life, patiently waiting for Lance's response. 

“Yeah, I’m good!” Lance had to yell since the helmet muffles his voice. “Let’s ride!”

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

There were no more disturbances during the ride through the night. It was around 2 AM, the traffic had died down so much that they hadn't passed any cars in an hour. The long stretch of road was only illuminated by the motorcycle’s headlight, unless they were passing by a small city or town. Keith didn't have to go as fast as he did before since there was no immediate threat of someone directly on their tail. The gentle hum of machinery had lulled Lance into a state of a dazed semi-sleep, he was on the brink of passing out right then and there. The adrenaline from before had exhausted him. 

Keith would be in the same state as Lance if he didn't have the cold wind whipping his face as he drove. His eyes felt a bit dried out from the harsh air, making him have to squint and blink a lot otherwise they threatened to shut. It was at this point that Keith decided that they would have to stop for the night and continue their way to the safe house in the morning. Even though they were college students, they still had points where they crashed from being sleep deprived. 

Keith steered the motorcycle off the highway when the next exit appeared. It was a small town, more of a rest stop that others would pass by from the parkway, nothing major. It took Keith around five minutes of driving around before he spotted a run-down motel that appeared to still be open at this time of night. He pulled into the parking lot and turned the bike off, kicking the stand so it wouldn't fall over. He glanced behind him at Lance, who was leaning all his body weight onto Keith's back with his head on Keith's shoulder. Keith could easily bet $10 that Lance was drooling and he's one-hundred-percent sure that he'd win.

“Hey, Lance.” Keith whispered, as he didn't want to wake him harshly. He led this hand to Lance's hands that were wrapped around his waist, tapping lightly enough to stir Lance into functioning like a proper human. “Lance… We’re stopping for the night.” It took a moment for Lance to respond, but once he did, he grunted to alert Keith that he heard him. He uncoiled himself from Keith and stretched his arms above his head, his back cracking in about five different places. He slid the helmet off his head and rubbed his tired eyes. Keith slid off the bike and held out his hand towards Lance, “I’ll carry one of the bags for you.” Lance handed it to him without any hesitation, since it was straining his back with all the extra weight.

Lance groaned, “Where are we now?” 

“We’re about four hours from Manchester. We're heading towards a safe house in Wisconsin.” 

“W-Wait… Wisconsin? Why?” Lance questioned, his eyebrows furrowing as he stepped off the bike.

“There's a cabin there that overlooks Lake Michigan. It's in a secluded part of the woods, so no one should bother us.” Keith explained. “It's just a temporary spot until things cool down enough so we can get you back home safely.” 

“How much longer do we have left?” 

“It'll take another fifteen hours to get there.” 

“Fifteen hours!” The tiredness from Lance's mind from before was completely wiped out of his system as he processed how much more driving they were required to do. “What the fuck!” 

“Lance! Shush!” Keith hushed Lance as he started to lead the both of them towards a small building on the side of the lot that had the word labeled  _ Office _ on the top. “We'll talk about it in a bit!” They entered the building and immediately spotted a sleeping man at the counter. He had his head buried in his arms and he was deep in his sleep. 

Both boys looked at each other and then back at the man. Keith walked up to the desk and hesitated, before saying fuck it and tapped the guy on the arm. “Um, excuse me?” He didn't respond to the tap, so Keith decided to lightly shake him. “Uh, wake up.” From the shaking, the man finally began to stir. He picked his head up and looked at Keith, narrowed his eyes at him. 

“Mmn.” He grunted, his voice gruff. “...What can I help ya with?” He glanced at the Hello Kitty band-aid on Keith's cheek for a moment, yet made no move to voice any opinions.

“We need a room for the night.”

The guy glanced at Lance from over Keith's shoulder and swiveled his chair around to look at a key holder hanging on the wall behind him. There were two keys hanging up while the rest of the holder was empty, signifying that the other rooms were taken. “Welp, seems like you're in luck, we got two one-bedded rooms available.”

“We only need one.” Keith stated, ruffling in his jean pockets for his wallet. 

“Wait, what?” Lance called out behind him. He stepped over towards Keith so he could be beside his companion. “Why one?” 

“We need to save money.” 

Lance opened his mouth to speak, yet shut it once he realized how true the statement was. They only had a limited amount available, so they would have to share to get by until they reached the safe house. Plus, Keith was supposed to protect Lance, there was no way he could keep an eye on things if they were in separate rooms. 

So, Lance didn't push for different rooms since it'd be a waste. After paying for a night, Keith was handed the keys to room 106. “Check out is at 11 AM. Make sure you leave by then.” Just right as they were heading out the doors, the man called back. “Oh! If you see any cockroaches, just beat them with your shoes!” Great. How delightful. 

Lance leaned next to Keith's ear and whispered, “If I see one cockroach, I'm burning the building down.” Keith released a inaudible chuckle at his joke, yet Lance was dead serious. If one of those suckers appeared in his peripherals, he's stealing Keith's bike and driving to Antarctica. He would use the motorcycle as a flotation device to get across the water. He knows it would sink, but he'd find a way to make it work.

Walking down the hallway, both boys stopped at a plain white door labeled their room number. Keith slid the key inside the lock and the door clicked open. Keith entered first, just as a precaution and after a quick scope around, he deemed it safe enough for Lance to enter, though Lance had already walked in at that point. He tossed his bag into the corner of the room and studied it, turning around in circles so he could see everything more clearly. 

It was one cramped room, only occupied with a double bed, a nightstand and a dresser, all in not the best quality, yet not the absolute worst. An old style TV was perched on the dresser, along with a light. The TV was one of the larger boxed ones that were used in the 1990s before flat screens became mainstream. With one flicker on, it showed to only have three channels available, everything else was just static. There was a bathroom attached that held a shower and other essentials. With one quick peek, Lance saw that the trash hadn't been emptied from the previous visitors of the room, as there were empty beer cans and used condoms inside. How wonderful. There wasn't a closet at all, the owners must have just wanted the customers to make use of the dresser. 

It was small and it was cramped, but they both didn't have many options. 

Keith plopped his bag onto the bed, rummaging through trying to find a sleep shirt and sweatpants that weren't shot through. When he grabbed them, he turned around, preparing to change in the bathroom when he was greeted with the sight of a stripping Lance. “...What are you doing?” Lance had his pants around his thighs as he was sliding them off, his jacket already thrown to the corner where his backpack laid. 

“Uh… Getting ready for bed, duh.” He continued to slip off his pants. 

“Why don't you change in the bathroom?” 

“Dude! We roomed together for three months! Chill!” Lance defended, tossing off his shirt and bunching it up with his pants and tossing it to join his jacket. Now, with only boxers on, Lance placed his hands on his hips. “I know you don't like changing in front of people, but I don't care about  _ me  _ changing in front of you! I want to go to sleep already!” Lance huffed and stomped over to the bed, practically launching himself stomach first and snuggling his face into the pillows. 

If anyone were to ask, Keith would deny that his eyes weren't peeking glances at Lance's ass while he did that. Nope. He would never do such a thing.

“Are you gonna put on any sleeping clothes?” 

Lance lifted himself up by supporting his weight on his elbows as he shot Keith a quirked eyebrow. “I don't have my bathrobe with me so this is my second go-to sleepwear.” He scrunched up his face in distaste. “I hate how restricting normal clothes are when you sleep, I need my legs to be free.” 

“Fine, whatever.” Keith grumbled as he headed into the bathroom. He blamed the slight heat rising onto his cheeks from how the room didn't have any AC, not from Lance, nope, not at all. 

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

Lance assumed with how close he was to being knocked out cold, he would fall asleep relatively easy. Yet, it seemed that no matter how much he twisted and turned, his body refused to enter dream land. His mind was whirling with too many thoughts, which was never a good thing on its own. Lance's brain was using the time he was aimlessly staring at the ceiling to reflect on the day’s events and how much had happened in such a short time frame.

He starting thinking about his sister, his father, their scary and unpredictable future. Not only their own future, but also the future of their very country that was being threatened by extremists that want the royal family to be just outright dead. It was scary thinking of all these things at once, and Lance was starting to feel himself lose his grip on reality. 

“...Lance?” Keith's voice just barely above a whisper. The room was previously completely silent so the sudden noise beside Lance had made him flinch. He turned his head to the left towards Keith to try and see him through the dark, which wasn't hard since they laid down to fall asleep an hour ago. He saw that Keith was staring at him, though his facial expression was obscured in the darkness. “You okay?”

Lance opened his mouth to respond with his usual cheerful remarks on how he was fine, yet he hesitated for a moment, before revealing the truth. “I-I’m not sure.” He released a long sigh, relaxing his tense muscles in a sign of defeat. “My brain isn't really… in the best state right now.” 

Keith adjusted himself so he would lay on his side facing Lance. “...Do you want to talk about it?” 

“...” 

“You don't have to if you don't want to.” 

“N-no, I just… it's all jumbled. There's too much to talk about.” Lance admitted as he rearranged himself so he was now laying on his side facing Keith as well. “I guess I'm just… scared.” 

“Well, I’m here for you…” Keith mumbled. He pulled his arm out from under the covers and lightly placed it onto Lance's forearm, attempting to pat it in a soothing manner, yet the stiff action easily revealed how awkward Keith felt. 

Lance snorted, quickly covering his mouth with his free hand to muffle any chuckles. Keith reeled back his hand, shocked at the sudden loud outburst. It took a moment for Lance to recover his breath, yet once he did, a faint smile was present on his face. He whispered out a breathless, “Thank you, Keith… I really appreciate it.” It was followed by a content sigh as he let himself finally relax fully. 

Keith returned the small smile, responding back with, “No problem, Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Chapter Two! Didn't really know how this would turn out, but it wasn't the absolute worst thing in the world :D  
> ((Also, searched it up, and yes, apparently people have fallen asleep on backs of motorcycles without falling off ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ who knew!))
> 
> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! They motivate me to write!


	3. Sweet Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coran got a knife, nice dreams and cold showers...

_ “The person you are trying to reach is unavailable right now, please leave a mess-.” _

“Why isn't this working!” Allura hissed, slamming the end call button for the fifth time. Everytime she attempted to contact Lance, it would immediately go to voicemail. 

“Princess Allura, please calm down.” Shiro tried to urge her to take a seat and relax, yet she continued pacing around the room. “You have to remember that it's 4 AM there… He most likely just shut off his phone for the night.”

Allura glanced once more at his contact name, before releasing a defeated sigh. “Yes, yes. I'm aware.” Allura seated herself beside him on the plush couch and ran a hand down her face. “I just… need to hear his voice. To be sure that he's fine.” It had always calmed her down when Lance was with her, he was like a small beacon that yelled  _ Everything's going to be okay _ … or well, he actually would yell that sometimes too. She missed him so much.

After the evacuation from the palace, Allura had been escorted to one of her great aunt's home a few hours away from the capital. It was a large mansion, nearly a small castle on its own, polished white that raised four stories. There were plenty of security measures taken so none of the news agencies, nor any unwelcomed  _ groups _ , knew where Allura was sent to take shelter. They currently resided in a grand living room that was littered with expensive decorative items, their existence only to boost their owner’s ego for they could afford such luxurious decor. The room held the theme of pastels, by evidence of the sofas and furniture being pinks and blues trimmed with whites, so nothing would be hard on the eyes. Even though Allura has been to this home in the past, there was always some new object to gaze at. 

Shiro gazed at Allura’s dejected face that was intently studying her hands, concern washing over him. He lightly grasped at her hand on her lap, startling her with the sudden action. She raised her eyes to shoot him a look of confusion, not retracting his hands from hers. “Allura, trust me. Allance is fine, he has Keith…” He flashed a small smile, “He’s my nephew… he's more than capable of taking care of him.”

It took a moment for Allura to let his words sink in, before releasing her breath and relaxing her body. “You're right, you're right… I have to have faith that he's okay…” She paused, a faint smile gracing her face. “Thank you, Shiro…” 

His own smile grew, “No problem, Princess.” They locked eyes for a few more moments, hands still intertwined, until a voice was called down the hallway.

“Princess Allura!” Coran’s voice was muffled behind the closed doors, yet increased in volume as he came nearer. Allura and Shiro both ripped their hands away from one another, increasing the gap between them by scooting over and turning their gazes to look at something else in the room, pretending the previous predicament never occurred. It took a few more moments of silence before the doors burst open to reveal a red haired man with an impressive mustache carrying a decorative silver tray that held a fancy lunch along with tea. “Allura, your lunch is ready!” He grinned as he sauntered in. 

“Oh, thank you, Coran.” Allura laughed nervously at her family's royal advisor. “I believe it would be a lovely day to eat out in the garden, wouldn't you?” She stood up and walked towards Coran. 

He looked to his right, gazing out the window to see the sunny outdoors. “Why, you're right! Would you like me to grab your Aunt to accompany you?” 

Allura shook her head, “There's no need for that. I'll have Shiro eat with me today.” Coran’s smile faltered for the briefest moment as his eyes flickered to Shiro’s, before he managed to slip back into the easygoing expression once more. 

“Yes, of course!” Coran backtracks back to the hallway and looks at one of the guards that were stationed at the doors. “If you could, young sir, please escort the Princess to the gardens.” When the guard nodded his head, Coran passed the tray to him and turned towards Shiro. “Shiro, I need your assistance in the kitchen for making your meal.” He promoted turned on his heels and marched in the direction of the kitchen, not glancing back to see if Shiro was following. 

Shiro and Allura locked eyes, his face expressed confusion while hers held mild frustration. “Whatever he says to you, don't take it to heart…” Allura murmured. 

“Huh?”

“He means well, so don't take anything personally.” She said no more on the subject as she followed the guard down the hallways, leaving Shiro to trot after Coran. The older man held a brisk walk to his destination, not acknowledging the hurried steps of Shiro behind him. They took a few sharp turns before arriving to the large kitchen, everything perfect and neat. The slick grey sparkled from all the appliances, signaling they were all well kept. The marble counter tops were so shiny, Shiro could see his own reflection. He was convinced it was clean enough to eat on. 

The kitchen was empty, which was surprising as it was lunch time, yet one quick glance at the dirty pots in the sink revealed that they had already prepared lunch for Allura and her Aunt. “What would you like to eat, Shiro?” Coran questioned as he marched over towards the corner of the room and slid on an apron. 

“Oh, uh… I'm fine with whatever.” 

Coran set to work, grabbing ingredients out of the perfectly organized fridge and placing them onto the slick counter. Shiro was quick to notice they were all vegetables, so he took a shot in the dark and guessed that it would be a salad of some kind. 

“Coran,” Shiro started, catching his attention. “Do you want me to help you?” He hesitantly pointed at the other aprons in the corner, implying that he was asking if he should put one on. 

“Ah, yes. That would be helpful!”

Shiro walked over and grabbed an apron, sliding it on and securing it around his waist. He washed his hands alongside Coran’s hands in the sink, that way everything could remain fresh and clean. Coran handed Shiro the lettuce and instructed that he peel the leaves off the head, while he would skin and slice the cucumbers and carrots. 

They worked silently for a few minutes, the only sounds echoing around the room was the crunching of the lettuce. Coran seemed so focused on his task of peeling the skin off the cucumbers, that Shiro didn't want to interrupt him at all. Yet, he also knew that something was bothering him, so he didn't want leave Coran dwell.

“…Coran, is there something on your mind?” Shiro glanced at Coran’s expression as he asked this, watching for any changes. The momentary pause in cutting and furrowing of the brows signaled that Shiro was correct in his assumptions. He didn't push anymore, just waited for Coran to either find the words to say or to get his thoughts together.

It was a few moments of silence, before a tense sigh released from Coran’s lungs. He didn't look at Shiro at all, still focused on the half skinned cucumber in his hands. “You know, I practically raised Allura like she was my own daughter.” 

_ Now  _ Shiro had an inkling on where the conversation was heading. 

“Even though I know she's old enough to take care of herself, I still see the young girl I helped raise… I want the best for her.” Coran mulled. A few more beats of silence pass, before he turns and locks eyes with Shiro. He paused his cutting and just held the knife in his hand as his eyes narrowed, and even though they both were the same height, Shiro felt like shrinking back a bit. “Just because King Alfor has approved of you, doesn't mean I have to just as quickly.” He raised the knife just a tad bit higher, possibly unconsciously by how tense his shoulders became. “If you break her heart, you'll have to face me… Do you understand?” 

Now, Shiro was a veteran. He had fought in the front lines, seen friends die and killed people with his own hands. He even lost his arm from a rouge  grenade while in battle. He's a large man, standing at six feet and two inches tall and he isn't a slender man either. He's skilled with combat and battle tactics. He's a pure soldier. So why was it that this man in front of him with the ridiculous mustache and usually goofy attitude struck fear in this moment. In the back of his head, he swore he heard the words,  _ because he could make your death look like an accident.  _ Right.

Shiro gulped and replied with a shaky, “Yes, sir.” 

“Good.” Coran huffed, continuing to cut the cucumber into thin hexagons so they would be easier to eat. Shiro remained silent, peeking glances at how efficient Coran was with the knife. 

He mulled on his previous words, and a few beats passed before what Coran had said earlier had finally processed in his brain. “W-wait! The King approves of me?” He whipped his head towards Coran and sputtered, a light blush warming his cheeks. 

A roll of the eyes, followed by an exaggerated scoff released from Coran, “Apparently. The King keeps texting me to send him updates on how you two are  _ hitting it off _ . It's entirely unprofessional, I say.” 

Shiro dropped the head of lettuce in a fluster. The King of Altea wants to know updates on when Allura and Shiro are flirting. His  _ boss.  _ **_The King._ ** He wants to die. If it was so obvious that he had a crush on the Princess that her  _ father  _ knew, then was it obvious to her? 

“Ugh.” He groaned as he picked back up the lettuce. He ignored the quick reddening of his face and how hot his ears and neck felt, but he didn't ignore the small smirk creeping onto Coran’s face when he briefly peeked over.

They continued on as planned, Coran setting up the salad to appear like it was made in a five star restaurant. He made Shiro carry the bowl, claiming, “You're a big boy, you can do it yourself.” much to Shiro’s displeasure. They strolled back down the same hall from before, reaching the doors that would enter the garden. 

Just before Coran opened the large white doors for Shiro, he looked him dead in the eyes and calmly asked. “Do you remember what we talked about, young man?” 

Shiro gulped a chill briefly running through him, before nodding. “Yes, sir.”

The grin on Coran's face shouldn't have been anything similar to predatory, yet it was. “Good.” And with that, he opened the doors.  

\- ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ -

Morning light filtered into the motel room’s window, lightly dimmed from the sheer curtains concealing the inhabitants from the prying eyes of the outside world. The only sounds in the room was soft breathing relaxed from sleep, along with muffled tweets from birds waking up outside. Both residents were sleeping heavily, too exhausted from the adventures they endured the previous day. 

Keith gained consciousness first, albeit slowly. His body still felt groggy, eyes refusing to open. Yet he pushed through as best he could and noticed he was laying on his back. He peeled his eyes open to be greeted with the plain white ceiling on the room, and it took him a moment to process where he was. It took a minute before the memories from the night before to hit him. He felt himself tense before whipping his head towards Lance beside him to see if he was okay. 

His eyes landed on Lance, and yes, he was fine. He was passed out sleeping, completely and utterly fine. Except… he was cuddling right against Keith. 

Well, this was certainly one way to wake up. 

Lance’s head laid on Keith's shoulder chest area while one of his arms wrapped around his waist. Their legs were intertwined, Lance's knee being just a hair short of hitting Keith's crotch, which was not pleasant. It didn't help that Lance was only wearing his boxers.  _ Definitely _ didn't help. Keith didn't even realize that the arm trapped by Lance's head was entangled in hair. He had probably been petting it while he was sleeping. That’s not embarrassing in the  _ slightest _ .

Keith glanced down at Lance's sleeping face for a moment to see if he had stirred a bit from Keith's movements, yet Lance stayed peacefully sleeping, unaware of their current predicament. Keith gulped as he turned his head towards the nightstand beside the bed, grabbing his black cellphone that was charging during the night. 

_ 7:18 AM. _ So it seemed like they managed to get around five hours of sleep, which was enough to get by on. 

Keith peeked a glance at Lance once more and dwelled on his options to get out of this situation. He could shove Lance off him, yet that seemed like a last resort kind of thing. It would rude to suddenly throw him off. Keith could wake him up and ask him to get off, but they would both have to deal with embarrassment of the problem. Or he could try and slip away so he could get a shower for the morning and have Lance never know this happened. 

He decided to attempt the latter. 

Keith tried to ignore the rising heat to his face as he studied Lance’s expression for any signs of waking. He held his breath and gently grasped Lance’s arm on his waist, and picked it up with the smallest movement. When he saw no reaction, he placed Lance’s arm on his hip. Keith slid his free hand under Lance’s head and tried to hold it up so he could slide out from Lance’s clutches and replace it with a pillow, but Lance stirred as he was holding him up, causing Keith to freeze. It turned out that Lance was just readjusting himself, which meant he grabbed Keith’s hand and snuggled closer to it, causing Keith to cuss under his breath. 

Only Keith’s hand remained on the bed, with his body hanging off the side, and he was thinking of ways on how to retrieve his hand. He decided on prying Lance’s hands off his own. Keith was almost successful too, but right as he was lowering Lance’s head onto the pillow below him, his phone went off. 

“Shit.” Keith whispered as he glanced beside him at his phone to see who was calling.

_ Shiro. _

Lance's face scrunched up in confusion, groaning at the sudden noise beside him. Keith stilled for a moment, the ringing continuing for eternity as Keith witnessed Lance slowly waking up.

When Lance's eyes slowly pried open, there was Keith cradling his head with one hand while the other was holding his hand. Lance's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to process what was happening, yet because he had just woke up, he felt himself in a daze. Lance yawned and pulled himself away from Keith's grasp with dull, tired eyes, and turned his body to face the other side of the bed, too tired to comment on what happened. Keith was immensely grateful for that. 

The phone had stopped ringing once Keith was free from being trapped, so he grabbed the device and entered the bathroom where he decided would call back. It took two rings before Shiro picked up. 

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice was a bit staticky, which was probably be because of the horrible free wifi it gives you. “Keith, Allura can't get a hold of Allance, did something happen?” 

Keith nearly bit his tongue holding back a snarky comment on how that would be an understatement. He just sighed in return, “Allance was found out, we had to leave the school.” 

He could practically see Shiro tensing at the statement, hearing him suck in a harsh breath wasn't hard to pick up on the phone either. “What happened? Allura said that he was fine after she talked to him last night!”

“Well, after that phone call, a guy found him and pulled a gun on him. He knew who he was.” 

“That's… Are you guys okay?” Shiro’s voice was stern and hard with anticipation. 

“Yes, we’re fine.” Keith's gaze wandered around the bathroom, taking in all the smallest details, until his eyes locked on his reflection in the mirror above the counter and they trailed to look at the bright pink Hello Kitty band-aid still on his cheek. He'd have to changed it for a new one since the stickiness was wearing down. “...Well, not too banged up.” 

A heavy, relieved sigh released from Shiro’s chest. “Okay, that's good… So, where are you now?”

“We’re in New York right now.” Keith started pacing around the confined area. “I'm trying to get us to Wisconsin so we can stay at Grandpa’s cabin. I figured that would be a safe place.”

Shiro perked up in interest, “Oh, I’m surprised you remember that place. We haven't been to their summer home for a few years.” 

“Well,” Keith leaned his body on the counter, placing his hand near the sink to support his weight. “I just thought of it as we were leaving. They're in Altea now, right?” 

“Ah, yes. It's gonna start to get chilly up there and you know how much they hate the cold.” Shiro chuckled at his own memories, yet sobered up quick enough. “I'll notify some of the security team of what's happening and we’ll have some come in a few days after you to retrieve you both. We have to have things calm down here first.”

Keith nodded his head, but quickly realized that Shiro wouldn't see it at all, so he blurted, “Okay, yeah.” 

“I want you to call me if anything else happens, as well as when you get there safely. Understand?” 

“Yes, of course.” 

“Okay,” Shiro sighed once more, and Keith could briefly hear him running his hand down his face. “Stay safe while you're on the road. Also, when you get a chance, have Allance call Allura, she's really worried.” 

Then, Shiro backtracked, realizing what he just said. “Shoot, how am I going to tell Allura what happened?” He groaned. “She's going to try and fight the Galra with her own two fists.” The mental image that popped into Keith's head was a funny one, yet not entirely untrue. He can already imagine that if she finds out that Lance was nearly shot, not only will she fight the Galra, but she'll come to America herself to get Lance and kick Keith's ass for not looking out for him more. 

“Just tell her as calmly as possible and make sure to tell her that he's alright.” 

“Like that's going to make her freak out any less.”

“Then I'll guess you just have to deal with what happens.” Keith released a small chuckle, before calming himself. “I'll make sure to call with updates, as well as have Allance call Allura.”

“Okay, thank you, Keith. I really mean it.” 

A small sigh escaped Keith's chest, “No problem, Shiro.”

“Stay safe, bye.” With a small click, the line went dead. Keith remained in the bathroom to regain his thoughts on the previous conversation, yet decided that he shouldn't dwell on it. Keith opened the door to the bedroom, and glanced at Lance as he did so. 

He was still facing away from Keith, appearing to be sleeping still. Yet once the bathroom door creaked open, making Lance turn his body to see who made the noise. When he realized it was just Keith, he relaxed, but didn't go back to bed. Instead he sat up, the blanket covering him slip down to reveal his left shoulder. The dimmed sunlight elegantly bathed Lance, the light making his bedhead look more pleasant than the mess it really was. Lance’s sleepy face held a small smile as he gazed at Keith warmly. “Good morning.”

Keith felt like he was going to have a heart attack with how quickly his face heated up.

“Uh, y-you can sleep in more if you want.” Keith coughed, trying to remove the uneasy stutter that squeaked out. 

Lance's eyebrows furrowed as he tilted his head to the side a bit. The movement made the rest on the blanket fall down onto Lance's lap, revealing his entire bare chest and that's when Keith decided that he needed to do something instead of just stare. As Keith turned his attention to the corner of the room that held their backpacks, Lance questioned, “What time is it?” 

“It's uh,” Keith glanced at his phone, “7:30 now. You can sleep in till eight, if you want.” 

Lance shook his head, kicking over his legs so the blanket was no longer covering his body, yet Keith didn't see this as he was laser focused on getting his clothes out of this bag for his shower. “Nah, I'm okay.” There was a brief silence, the only noise being the shuffling of Keith's bag, before Lance decided to break it. 

“I have this strange dream… like I was hugging this cloud bear and it was super soft and comfortable.” Keith tensed at this, realizing that Lance was probably referring to him. He quickly felt his face return to it’s previous blushing state. Lance continued, completely oblivious to Keith's state. “And I'm pretty sure you were there at one point too, like we were on this field and a ladybug flew onto my face so you took it off of me… it was nice.” 

“Okay, that's good.” Keith rambled quickly, gathering his clothes in his arms. “Well, I'm going to take a shower.” Without glancing once at Lance, Keith hurriedly marched to the bathroom, leaving a confused Lance in his wake. 

Once Keith entered the safe haven and locked the door, he had to collect himself and take a breather for a moment. He stole a glance at his reflection in the mirror and was greeted with the sight of the flustered fool that was himself. He groaned and rubbed his face with his hands in frustration with his own actions. 

Once he managed to get over the mortifying embarrassment of this mornings predicament, Keith turned and started up the shower that he desperately needed. He decided that maybe taking a cold one would be for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first planned this chapter, it wasn't supposed to be this gay,, yet here it is :)
> 
> Kudos and Comments are appreciated! They help me write!


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